Radio program apparatus



Dec. 317, 1935. E. A. ZADBG RADIO PROGRAM "APPARATUS Filed April 29,v1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VEN TOR.

Dec. 17, 1935. E. A. ZADIG 2,624,195

RADIO PROGRAM APPARATUS Filed April 29, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ERA/5 TA.Z/lp/e IN V EN TOR.

Patented Dec. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

My invention relates to radio receivers and particularly to means forindicating in conjunction with the receiver the principal programs Iavailable at a given time.

For this purpose I provide an abstract of the principal or leadingbroadcast programs and print this upon a carrier preferbly in the formof a strip. This carrier is periodically moved automatically, forinstance once an hour, to display in conjunction with the receiver theleading available items with either or both the station letters or thedial setting and the time at which that particular item will beavailable. This apparatus is preferably combined with the alternatingcurrent source which energizes the set.

The program carrier may be driven in difierent ways, for instance, bymeans of a power actuated relay brought into action periodically by someform of a synchronous motor receiving its energy from the same source orpower which actuates the set.

Fig. l is a perspective View showing one form of radio receiver with aprogram apparatus involving my invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of one form of the apparatus and theelectric circuits.

Fig. 3 is a side view of one form of actuating mechanism for the programstrip carrier.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a roll for use with such apparatus.

In a typical radio receiver the cabinet 4 would have some sort of loudspeaker 5, tuning apparatus with a knob 6, an indicating wave length orfrequency dial 1, a controlling switch 8 and a volume control 9. Theconstruction and arrangement of such parts of the apparatus, however,are immaterial to my invention. The set will also be provided with asuitable source of power, such for instance as may be adapted to receivea tap or attachment plug ill.

The program apparatus includes a strip I I constituting the carrierwhich has printed on it the principal programs arranged in groups, forinstance, to cover successive periods of one hour each, as indicated inFig. 4. This may also carry advertising matter such, for instance, asshown by panels l2, and the programs and advertising will be visiblethrough an opening or openings such as It in the cabinet. Forconvenience in handling the carrier strip may be mounted on a roller I5adapted to be mounted in the cabinet in a suitable manners This programroll may be supported in a housing or frame [6 mounted within the maincabinet and accessible, for instance, through a door such as I! at oneside of the cabinet. The carrier frame also has a windup shaft or rollerl8 which is intermittently driven by suitable mechanism. The generalconstruction and arrangement for supporting the program roller or reeland the wind-up shaft or '5 roller may be adapted to installation as aunit together with the power mechanism for addition to or insertion inany form of cabinet.

In the arrangement shown a wind-up shaft i3 is driven periodically bythe'action of an electri- 16 cal solenoid having the coil 20 and themovable core 2 I. I have illustrated the transmission mechanism as ofconventional form including, for instance, a lever 22 connected to thesolenoid core or plunger 2| and carrying a pawl 23 coacting 1% with aratchet 2 attached to the drum 25.

A pulley 26 attached to the drum has a band 2'! for driving the wind-upshaft is. Drum 25 may have a suitable toothed or friction drivingperiphery for engaging the program strip to draw 20 it downwardly. Whenthe solenoid is energized it draws the armature or plunger downwardlyand the pawl 23 slips over the teeth of the ratchet 24 without actuatingthe same. When the solenoid is de-energized the spring 28 will draw the25 lever 22 upwardly and the pawl 23 will then rotate the ratchet so asto feed the program strip the requisite amount. It will'be understood,of course, that the dimensions in gearing are arranged to produce thenecessary length of feed 30 of the program strip at each actuation ofthe relay. The feed drum may also be provided with a thumb piece 29 topermit manual operation, especially for feeding in the end of the stripto the wind-up shaft 18.

In Fig. 2 I have shown conventionally a typical circuit and arrangementfor such a system. Here the radio receiver proper is indicateddiagrammatically at 30, receiving its power from the attachment plug I0and having a switch 3| for turning on and off the set. It is, of course,understood that this switch 3| has the knob 8 for actuating it.

The solenoid coil 20 receives its power periodically from the main linethrough the plug I0. As the ordinary power supply may be 110 volts, itis desirable to step down to a lower voltage, say 6 volts, for actuatingthe relay. For this purpose I have provided a transformer 32 having itsprimary connected to the main line and having its secondary adapted tobe connected to the relay through a switch having a stationary contact33 and a movable switch member 34. The closing of the circuit throughthe relay is automatically effected by suitable means preferably drivenfrom the same source of power as the set. In this case I have showndiagrammatically a synchronous motor driving a cam 36 through suitablegear reduction mechanism 31. The motor and gear mechanism are designedto operate at the standard frequency to which the set is adapted and torotate the cam 36 once for each unit of time covered by the programunit, for instance one hour. A plunger 38 is interposed between the cam36 and the switch member 34. The spring 39 may be employed to bias theswitch member toward the open circuit position. The motor 35 willaccordingly be rotating continuously at a uniform rate and willcontinuously drive the cam 36. As this cam has only one projection 40the switch member 34 will be held in the open circuit position at alltimes except when the shoulder 40 of the cam reaches the plunger 38 andby means of this latter impels the switch member to the closed circuitposition. This energizes solenoid 20 and retracts pawl lever 22.

When the plunger 38 snaps off the shoulder 40 of the cam, the circuitwill be rapidly opened at a definite instant. This de-energizes solenoid20 and allows the spring 28 to move the pawl lever 22 and feed theprogram strip so as to bring the next period of the program into view inthe opening l4. As cam 36 continues to rotate, switch member 34 remainsin the open circuit position until shoulder 40 is again reached.

It should be understood, of course, that a suitable motor might beprovided to operate on direct current in place of the synchronous motor35 and also that the transmission mechanism and switch mechanism may beof any suitable character. It will be seen, however, that the amount ofpower required to rotate the switch actuating member is extremely small.It is also preferred that the relay switch should be open most of thetime so as to draw a minimum amount of power.

Instead of winding up the strip l I on the drum or roller l8, it mightbe simply discharged from the drive roller 25, which of course furnishesa uniform feeding action. When the roller I8 is employed it will beunderstood that the feed is controlled by roller 25 and that the belt2'! must as to carry the principal items covering the period of a weekso that a new roll of programs can be inserted say each week. As theprogram drive mechanism is operated all the time regardless of whetherthe set itself is on or off, it will be seen that the program availableat any particular 5 time will also be on display adjacent the tuningmechanism of the set. Such an arrangement insures a very convenientmeans for indicating the outstanding program features at any time.

I claim: 10

1. An automatic program indicator for radio programs comprising amovable printed sheet, a sight window, clockwork associated with saidprogram indicator, and means operated by said clockwork forintermittently moving the printed sheet 15 past the aforesaid window attime periods corresponding to the customary time period of radio programfeatures, the said sheet being printed with indications of thesuccessive program features, and the said sheet moving means being argoranged to move said sheet in synchronism with the times of the programfeatures indicated there- 2. An automatic program indicator for radioprograms comprising a movable printed sheet, a 25 sight window, drivingmechanism associated with said program indicator, and means operated bysaid driving mechanism for intermittently moving the printed sheet pastthe aforesaid window at time periods corresponding to the customary gotime period of radio program features, the said sheet being printed withindications of the successive program features, and the said sheetmoving means being arranged to move said sheet in synchronism with thetimes of the program fea- 3 tures indicated thereon.

3. An automatic program indicator for radio programs comprising amovable printed sheet, a sight window, driving mechanism associated withsaid program indicator, and means operated by said driving mechanism formoving the printed sheet past the aforesaid window at time periodscorresponding to the customary time period of radio program features,the said sheet being printed with indications of the successive programfeatures and the respective stations, and the said sheet moving meansbeing arranged to move said sheet in synchronism with the times of theprogram features indicated thereon.

ERNEST A. ZADIG.

